Emmly follows Cara Black’s footsteps

EMMLY George (7) is proving to be one of the rising stars in Zimbabwean tennis, following closely in the footsteps of Cara Black.

At a tender age of six she constantly beat her older opponents, clinching many gold medals in competitions which is a rare talent.

Hailing from one of the city’s suburbs, Nkulumane, George was born on 7 January in 2011. Her first involvement in tennis was at the age of five under the guidance and mentorship of his father, Mkhululi George who is her coach.

George, who possesses an International Tennis Federation Level Two coaching certificate, began training her when he saw the great potential and talent displayed by her.

“She began showing interest in tennis at the age of five back in 2016 and that is when l realised she had something special, so I decided to start training her the sport at that age. Before I became a coach I used to play tennis as well. I felt this is what l could give her in the form of knowledge and my coaching skills in the discipline,” George said.

He revealed that he became excited when he started realising that her daughter had exceptional talent at that age.

“It came as a surprise to me that Emmly could manage to do the things she did in the court, which I expect a nine year-old person to perform. She began exhibiting qualities of an all-round tennis player, with quick movement on the court,” he said.

George began attending tournaments in 2017 . In the year 2017, she won almost every tournament she took part in, clinching 15 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals in the Under 10 Red Ball category.

Last year she competed in 20 tournaments and managed to procure a medal in each competition.

This year she won a gold and bronze medal in Harare, after taking part in the New Winners Under10 Orange Ball category for the doubles and singles category respectively.

A well disciplined girl and an excellent player on the court has somehow managed to keep the same momentum at school.

Bulawayo Tennis Board chairman Raggs Chikunichawa described Emmly as young talented player who has the potential to become an upcoming star with more practice.